Official Blog of the Frederick Keys – Advanced 'A' Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles

Results tagged ‘ Baltimore Orioles ’

Before we get started talking current Keys, let’s take a moment to watch former Key Nick Markakis’ incredible home-run robbing catch. Because I just figured out how to embed MLB.com videos here, Markakis’ grab becomes the first in a new segment: Former Keys Highlight of the Day.

No homer for you, Adrian Beltre.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Moving on to the current Frederick squad, the Keys lost 3-2 last night, only able to muster five hits. One of them was Allan de San Miguel’s RBI double, which sounded like this:

*The Keys’ catcher was also featured in this week’s edition of Five Questions in the Frederick News-Post. Read it here

*Frederick’s offense has been lacking for all but one game in the last five.

The Keys have had five or fewer hits in four of their last five games and have scored two or fewer runs in those four. On Friday, Frederick had 14 hits, 13 of them singles, and scored nine runs, an anomaly during their recent offensive woes. Since being no-hit by Salem on Wednesday, Frederick has had just four extra-base hits and is batting .176 (6-for-34) with runners in scoring position.

Here’s to hoping their bats reawaken tonight, with the Keys just 1.5 games behind Wilmington for a second-half playoff berth.

Brady Wager starts for the Keys against Chris Beck, who, incredibly, is yet to register a no-decision through 17 starts. He’s 9-8, leading the league in wins and has the second-most losses. More on Wager, Beck and tonight’s game in the game notes:

*O’s legend Boog Powell was Frederick’s guest Saturday on Salute to the Orioles Night at The Grove. Tim Murray sat down and talked with the man best known for hitting homers, going sleeveless and making some excellent barbeque:

Have you voted for Keyote yet in MiLB’s #mascotmania? If not, do it right now. If yes, vote again! Either click on the link above, tweet your vote by including #mascotmania @FrederickKeys and @MiLB, or retweet an existing tweet like the one below. If you vote on twitter, the Keys will retweet you, too! You can vote on up to 25 times a day on Twitter.

Boog Powell will be in signing autographs Saturday night at Harry Grove Stadium

After last night’s walk-win over Salem, the Keys have given themselves a chance to win their four-game series with the Red Sox after being no-hit on Wednesday, win their third game in a row and take eight out of 10 games from Salem at Harry Grove Stadium this season.

And who better to do that in front the legendary Orioles first baseman and BBQ connoisseur Boog Powell. As part of our Salute to the Orioles, the Keys’ only big-league club since their inception in 1989, Boog will be at The Grove to throw out the first pitch and sign some autographs.

First pitch is at 6 p.m. and Boog will begin signing when the gates open at 5 p.m. Get your tickets and come hang out with Boog.

*Before we get to today’s game, let’s talk about last night, when the Keys walked off Salem for third time this season.

Here’s how it ended:

And here’s some reading from last night, courtesy of Greg Swatek of the Frederick News-Post, who incredibly beat his early deadline despite a three-hour, 40-minute game.

*Tonight, Julio Rodriguez gets the ball tonight for the Keys, hoping to provide his first good outing since his transfer to Frederick. He’s 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA in three starts and lefties have done the most damage against him, batting .375 with six extra-base hits. Opposing Rodriguez is Heri Quevedo, who made an appearance in relief on Opening Day at Harry Grove Stadium: 2.1 innings, six hits, seven runs, six earned and two home runs. More on tonight’s game in the game notes:

*There’s decent chance Matt Hobgood, the fifth overall pick of the 2009 draft, will make his debut for the Keys tonight. Injuries have plagued Hobgood since he was taken by Baltimore, but now healthy, he seems to be rediscovering his stuff. He spoke with David Lassen of the Riverside Press-Enterprise about his promotion to Frederick and getting healthy for this column:

*In other news, the Keys have a game tonight against the Salem Red Sox at 7pm, gates open at 6pm. This is the first of a four game series at home against the Red Sox. The Keys will then go on the road for seven games so be sure to catch them this weekend.

Tucker Nathans has been nothing but hot lately. In his last seven games, he is batting .440 (11-25) with two doubles. He was called up from Class-A Delmarva on July 7.

*Keys outfielder and tonight’s leadoff hitter, Johnny Ruettiger got some love from MiLB. Check out the story below.

*If you missed yesterday’s edition of Unlocking They Keys, then you probably missed Ryan Minor’s interview. But don’t fret, you can check it out right here.

*There have been a lot of transactions being made in Frederick and the entire Baltimore Orioles system. Righty, Matt Hobgood has been promoted from Delmarva along with infielder Michael Mosby. Also, Zach Petersime and Delvi Cid have been released.

Last night’s game is a tough one to talk about for the more than 8,000 Keys fans at Harry Grove Stadium. The Carolina Mudcats beat the Keys last night 11-1.

Glynn Davis scored the only Keys run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of a RBI single by Delvi Cid. In his first game back at the Grove after being transferred from Double-A Bowie, Cid went 2-for-2 with two singles, one RBI and a stolen base.

*If you missed last night’s game, check out the Frederick News-Post’s game story here.

Julio Rodriguez will start tonight for Frederick. In his last start with Frederick, he walked six batters and allowed four runs on one hit, a homer, in just two innings in his last start before he was pulled from the game at Wilmington.

Tucker Nathans is the man to look out for tonight batting in the five spot tonight. He went 2-for-4 last night with a double. In five games with Frederick this season, he is batting .389 with two doubles, a RBI and a stolen base. Nathans went undrafted out of Fairfield but was signed in 2013 by the Orioles after two years of independent ball.

Tucker Nathans with the Shorebirds.

*For all of the information you need to know about tonight’s game, check out the game notes below!

The U.S. team defeated the World team 4-2. Walker did not start, however he finished the game 0-for-2 with a pop out and a strikeout. In his first at-bat, he faced former Keys pitcher, Eduardo Rodriguez, who is currently pitching for Double-A Bowie.

You Kent ask for a better finish than last night’s game against the Mudcats. Trust me, we aren’t Jokering! The Keys ended up Robin the win from Carolina with a walk-off sacrifice fly from Christian Walker in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Keys scored the only run of the game and finished on top, 1-0.

*Christian Walker hopped on a train this morning to head to Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, for the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday. Walker spoke with Frederick News-Post’s writer, Greg Swatek after last night’s walk-off win.

“I am looking forward to everything, just being in the atmosphere of being in a big league park and all those guys. They are great players. They are there for a reason. It should be a good experience.”

*Click here to read Swatek’s entire story on the Frederick News-Post’s website.

Trent Howard pitched five great innings giving up just one hit and no runs. He struck out five in his best start of the season, however, he did not factor into the decision. Miguel Chalas and Gene Escat pitched a combined four scoreless inning and only gave up three hits. Escat was credited with the win.

Ryan Minor’s lineup for tonights game against Carolina

Keep your X-Ray vision on Michael Ohlman in tonight’s game. He is batting .364 with four homers and nine RBIs in the month of July. Tucker Nathans has been flying under the radar since he came up from Delmarva last week. In four games, Nathans is batting .357 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base.

Zach Clark, who was just transferred from Double-A Bowie, will start tonight for the Keys. He is currently 1-4 with the Baysox in five starts this season.

*For everything you need to know about tonight’s game, check out the game notes below.

The Keys broke out of their most recent funk last night. snapping a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 win at Wilmington. Brady Wager was exceptional, picking up his second straight win by allowing just one run over seven innings. And Johnny Ruettiger got the Keys started offensively on the first pitch of the game:

As for tonight, Zach Davies will start for Frederick, the Keys with the opportunity to split this four-game series in Wilmington after dropping the first two games. Davies hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his last 10 starts and is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two starts against Wilmington. The Blue Rocks’ starter, Kyle Smith, isn’t so bad either. His 2.91 ERA is the fourth best in the Carolina League and he’s 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in three starts against the Keys this season. More on tonight’s contest in the game notes:

*Going back to last night, Christian Walker racked up two more hits and two more RBIs, continuing his stellar month of July. The reigning Carolina Player of the Week talked about heading to the All-Star Futures Game this weekend with broadcaster Adam Pohl.

*Another nugget from last night’s win: Ashur Tolliver‘s season debut. He made his first appearance for the Keys since Sept. 4, 2011 in last night’s 6-1 win. Tolliver threw two scoreless innings, allowed a hit and a walks and struck out three in his 2013 Keys debut. He missed all of 2012 after having Tommy John surgery and was promoted to Frederick from Delmarva on Sunday.

After a winning just two of six games at home against Winston-Salem and Wilmington this past week, the Frederick Keys took to the road to play three games against the last place Lynchburg Hillcats.

On July 4 in Lynchburg, Brady Wager got his first win of the season. He gave up seven hits and three runs in seven innings pitched in his best outing of the season. Zach Fowler then came in to pitch two scoreless innings leaving the Keys on top, 8-3.

Christian Walker had a big game going three-for-five with three doubles and three runs scored. Michael Ohlman hit a three-run homer in the third inning putting the Keys ahead 4-1. Ohlman is batting .424 in the second half of the season with six doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs. He also has back-to-back Carolina League Player of the Week Awards under his belt.

The Keys pulled off another 8-3 win the following day with Zach Davies on the mound. Davies left the game in the seventh inning after giving up just three runs and seven hits with four strikeouts (identical to Wager’s start yesterday in those four categories). Miguel Chalas came in to pitch two scoreless innings for Frederick.

Davies picked up his fifth win of the season and his first since May 25.

Christian Walker had another great game going three-for-five with two doubles and a solo homer in the first inning to put the Keys up 2-0. In the month of July, Walker is batting .375 with five doubles and two homers.

*Want to read the full game story from the Keys July 5 game? Check it out right here.

In game three against the Hillcats, Luc Rennie got the start for Frederick. Rennie gave up four earned runs in 4+ innings pitched in his first start in the Carolina League on June 30. His July 6 outing was sadly not much different. Rennie gave up six hits, five runs (four earned) in only five innings pitched.

Hillcats starter, Greg Ross, held the Keys to just two hits and no runs in the six innings pitched. The Keys ended up losing 8-4.

Christian Walker came up big with a three run home off of reliever, Ronan Pacheco. Walker ended the game with just that one eighth inning homer.

Last night’s eleven inning battle sadly ended in a loss for the Frederick Keys. The Wilmington Blue Rocks scored two runs in the top of the eleventh inning and won the game shortly after 7-5.

Jason Esposito had three singles last night. He is batting sixth in tonight’s lineup.

*The Keys mounted a comeback in the eighth inning to eventually send it into extras. Jason Esposito had three singles last night along side this RBI.

Michael Ohlman finished last night’s game four-for-four, just a triple shy of the cycle. He drove in two runs and walked once. He is batting .488 (20-41) in the second half of the season with six doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs.

Make it 4-for-4 for Michael Ohlman. Single up the middle in the bottom of the 10th. @FrederickKeys

*Keys manager, Ryan Minor talked about his player’s improvement throughout the season with Tim Murray before yesterday’s game.

“[Ohlman] is taking more of a mental approach on it instead of just going out and playing. He studies the pitchers and he understands what they are trying to do to him.”

If you missed last night’s game, check out Adam Vencill’s story in The Frederick News-Post here. You can also check out our game story from the Frederick Keys website here.

*Tonight the Keys take on the Blue Rocks in game two of this three game series at Harry Grove Stadium. Julio Rodriguez will get the start for the Keys tonight.

Rodriguez was transferred from Double-A Bowie to Frederick today after just one start for the Baysox. He pitched 2.2 innings, gave up six runs, walk seven batters and threw three wild pitches in his Eastern League Debut. He started twice in the Gulf Coast League pitching a total of nine innings and only gave up eight hits and five runs.

RHP Julio Rodriguez transferred to Keys and will start tonight. Rodriguez was traded to #Orioles for OF Ronnie Welty during spring training.

*The Baltimore Orioles are looking to add a little more beef to their starting rotation and did just that with their trade with the Chicago Cubs. The O’s traded reliever Pedro Strop, starter Jake Arrieta and international bonus slots Nos. 3 and 4 to the Cubs for Scott Feldman. Feldman, age 30, is currently 7-6 with a 3.46 ERA in 15 starts with Chicago. Baltimore also acquired catcher, Steve Clevenger in the deal.

Photo Courtesy of 40yearrangerfan.mlblogs.com.

*Former Keys pitcher, Eddie Gamboa, was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week. He threw a seven inning no-hitter on Sunday for the Bowie Baysox.

Eddie Gamboa, the Bowie knuckleballer who threw a 7-inning no-hitter Sunday, has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week

*In other Baysox news, former Keys pitcher, Eduardo Rodriguez, will get his first start in Double-A baseball tonight at 7:05. Rodriguez was promoted to Bowie on June 28 of this year. Before getting moved up, he was 6-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 14 starts with Frederick.

Trent Howard starts this morning for the Keys, looking to stop their three-game losing streak.

The Keys’ recent slide continue last night, falling 5-0 to Carolina, their third loss in a row and 13th in their last 16 games. Frederick gets right back at it this morning, taking on the Mudcats in an 11 a.m. game. Coverage starts at 10:30 a.m. on 1450 AM The Source and whtu.org. Feel free to listen in while you work.

*Eduardo Rodriguez was great again for the Keys last night, tossing seven innings and allowing just three hits and one run. Unfortunately, his offense did not support him, picking up a total of three hits against four Mudcats pitchers. For more on last night, read the recap on FrederickKeys.com.

*Trent Howard will start today’s game for the Keys, taking the rotation spot of Zach Petersime. Howard has been lights out as a reliever (3-0, 0.69 ERA) and has started four games this season, going 0-0 with a 2.87 ERA. Opposing Howard and the Keys is Shawn Morimando, owner of the seventh-best ERA in the Carolina League. More on today’s starting southpaws in the game notes:

Keys catcher Michael Ohlman was named Carolina League Player of the Week this morning. He and the Keys start a four-game series at Carolina tonight.

Before we get started, take a listen to this:

That was one of Michael Ohlman’s two triples Friday night, part of a weekend that saw him go 5-for-10 with four extra-base hits and earned him the Keys’ first Carolina League Player of the Week nod this season.

Ohlman has been the Keys’ most productive offensive player since returning from the disabled list on May 23, batting .340 with five home runs, four triples, five doubles and 12 RBIs. His average now sits at .300 for the year. Read more about Ohlman and his league honor here.

Ohlman’s been getting some twitter love today, as word of his POTW honor spread quickly through the Baltimore media.

Class-A Frederick C Michael Ohlman has been named Carolina League Player of the Week. #orioles

*As for last night, the Keys lost 6-5 to Myrtle Beach and are just 11-18 in one-run games this year. Read Adam Vencill’s game story in the Frederick News-Post here. It was an ugly game and here’s a little of what Ryan Minor said in today’s paper.

“A poor game all around. We can’t have nine walks. We can’t have runners not score with less than two outs two or three times,” Minor said. “It’s a tough loss, but we’ll bounce back tomorrow and go back at it.”

Zach Davies starts tonight for the Keys against Carolina.

*Tonight the Keys head to Carolina to open a four-game set with the 22-51 Mudcats. Zach Davies starts for Frederick against all-star Cody Anderson, who has the second lowest ERA in the league at 2.63. Davies won his only start against the Mudcats this season, despite allowing five runs. More on tonight’s 7:15 p.m. game is below, in the game notes. You can listen to the Keys on 1450 AM The Source in Frederick or online at wthu.org. The broadcast is also available on smartphones through the TuneIn Radio app.

*Offense hasn’t been an issue for the Keys lately as they’re averaging nearly eight runs per game over their last six. Keys play-by-play man Adam Pohl sat down with Keys hitting coach Torre Tyson before last series:

*Saturday is Disney Night presented by Cruise Holidays of Frederick, who will be giving away a Disney trip at Saturday’s game. We’re placing beach balls around Frederick this week that can be redeemed at Cruise Holidays for a free ticket to Saturday’s game and an entry in the giveaway. Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes on our Facebook page for clues.

*We’ll have fireworks all weekend and on July 3rd, which will also feature a beer tasting special called “Taste of History Night.” Brewer’s Alley will be unveiling their newest Civil War era beer, Gettysburg Wheat, along with five other tasty brews. More info on the beer special is in flyer below. Call 301-815-9000 for more info or to purchase.

Unlocking the Keys authors

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.